PerireDamnatus
by Miss-Tick-Witch
Summary: Lily Evans returns for her final year at Hogwarts, only to find the wizarding world has changed. Prophetic dreams the mysterious Order of the Phoenix plague her mind… knowing that James Potter plays a crucial role in her future doesn’t improve matter
1. Default Chapter

**A/N: Okay. So this is the beginning of our story. Penelope and I hope that you enjoy it, as we have ignored everything our Geography teacher has said for the past term to write it.**

**Disclaimer: If we owned this story (thus making us/me/her J.K. Rowling) do you really think I (Lucy) would be stressed about the fact that my PE teacher thinks I'm insane, and do you think that Penelope would spend half her time worshipping aforementioned author? Hell no! We'd be saying to hell with teachers and "Ha ha! I AM J.K Rowling!" and finish the sixth book!**

**Translation: Not mine.**

**CHAPTER ONE – Her Lot**  
  
"Come on, come _on_! The train's leaving in ten minutes – I'll be late!"  
  
Lily Evans looked back at her mother, father and sister as they pushed and shoved their way through the crowd congregating on the Platform.  
Her mother's normally creamy white complexion was flushed pink from the quick pace Lily had set to reach the train in time. Her father, being taller than the rest of the Evans family and thus having longer legs, strode behind his wife at a leisurely pace, while pushing the trolley carrying Lily's luggage.  
  
And as always, bringing up the rear was Lily's sister Petunia. The older girl was scowling and her dark brown eyes flicked over everyone that passed her by – checking to see if they were one of "her lot".  
That is wizards and witches. Magic folk.  
  
Lily shook her head slightly.  
_By the way she carries on, you'd think we were carrying the Plague...  
  
_After turning away from her family and squeezing her way through another cluster of people, Lily found herself standing before the magical barrier that separated the Muggle platforms of Kings Cross from the wizarding one.  
Lily could almost smell the smoke from the Hogwarts Express.  
Not that the barrier looked all that magical, mind. For all appearances it was a solid brick wall.  
Wizards didn't like making things to technical. They liked to keep Muggles in the dark at all costs.  
Muggles didn't react well to being exposed to real life magic.  
  
Her cat, a Blue Point Burman named Morganna, who had been quiet in her wicker carry-case until now, yowled loudly, sensing what lay beyond the wall. Strangers walking past stared.  
"Yeah, yeah, Moggie," Lily murmured in soothing tones, "I want to get there as much as you do..."  
  
One of her mother's trademark farewell sobs signalled to Lily that her family had finally caught up. She barely had time to turn around when her mother threw thin arms around her shoulders.  
  
"My baby girl," she said tearfully, "All grown up and heading of for her last year of school. And as Head Girl, too! Oh Lily, I'm so proud of you I could burst!"  
Lily was certain she saw her father roll his eyes at his wife's dramatics. She returned the bone-crushing hug with a laugh.  
"Um, a bit of an emotional over share, Mum," Lily said jokingly.  
  
Mrs Evans stepped back, allowing Lily to breathe easy again, and blotted her damp cheeks with an embroidered handkerchief.  
"Yes, dear. Of course," She sniffed. "I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of all your friends, now, would I?" She sniffed again.  
Upon meeting Margot Evans, one could immediately tell where Lily got her looks from. The mother and daughter shared the same petite frame, porcelain skin, full red mouth made for smiling and they both possessed matching manes of dark red hair.  
The only noticeable difference between the two (aside from age, of course) was their eyes. While Margot's were smoky grey, Lily's were a brilliant emerald green.  
No one had eyes quite like Lily Evans.  
  
But for all she looked like a much younger version of her mother, she took after her father when it came to personality – inheriting his calm demeanour and quiet intelligence.  
  
"Mum, you couldn't embarrass me in front of my friends, because they _can't see us_. They're _all on the train _– which is where I should be. It's not that I don't love spending time with you all, but..."  
Lily heard her sister make a noise that was somewhere between a snort, a laugh and a cough. As usual, Lily chose to ignore her.  
  
Petunia on the other hand, was a female version of their father.  
Tall and bony, with a long nose, thin lips and dark brown hair and eyes. Not so much as a trace of her mother's red hair.  
Only their father didn't act like a conservative bitch with a rod up his arse.  
  
Lily bit her bottom lip as she thought about the wonders a personality altering charm would do for her...  
  
"Lily?"  
Her father's deep voice disrupted her daydreams and she looked up at him. David Evans smiled knowingly; he was well aware of the contempt his daughters had for one another.  
"I'm sorry to interrupt your...productive thinking, but it is getting quite late and you don't want to start your year as Head Girl by missing the train, do you?"  
  
Lily looked down at her wrist watch and grimaced. As much as she craved being back at Hogwarts, when it came time to leave her parents and friends in the Muggle world she was always reluctant.  
Another glance at Petunia, however, caused all reluctance to fly out the window.  
  
Lily carefully placed Morganna on top of her suitcases before moving to hug bother her parents in turn. Mrs Evans pulled her into another surprisingly strong hug.  
  
"Remember to write every week to let me know how things are going and make sure you buckle down and study for your N.E.W.T. s and tell Erina and Chloe I said hello and don't forget that as Head Girl you have a lot of responsibility and-"  
"Mum, you're babbling and I have a train to catch."  
  
Lily kissed her mother's cheek and smiled warmly.  
  
"I'll be fine. Seriously. You need to chill out, Mum. Nothing terrible is going to happen. It's Hogwarts remember."  
"Well, I suppose...when you put it like that..."  
  
Her father – in direct contrast to his wife – hugged Lily briefly before stepping back.  
"Don't let your mother worry you – you'll do fine. Good luck, angel, and _be good_" was all he said.  
  
"Thanks, Dad," Lily murmured.  
  
She glanced at her watch again. Five minutes. Time to go.  
She was cutting it thin.  
  
She snatched the trolley from her father's grasp (with a hasty apology) and had almost reached the barrier, when-  
  
"Aren't you going to say good-bye to Petunia, dear?"  
  
Lily stopped abruptly.  
_Dammit_, she thought,_ almost made it...  
  
_She looked at Petunia, who was standing away from her parents and pretending not to know them. She was regarding Lily with a look that most people reserved for something disgusting on the sole of their shoe.  
  
_Really, Mum, I think it's quite clear that Petunia would like nothing more than to be very, VERY far away from me right now, but hey! Who needs sisterly affection when you've got blind hatred...  
  
_Lily walked over to where Petunia was standing, and (ignoring the urge to run off) held out her arms for a good-bye hug.  
The two girls embraced stiffly.  
More like good riddance.  
  
"Have fun at your _freak _school with your _freak _friends and your _freak _teachers," Petunia hissed in Lily's ear, "Maybe you can find a _freak _boyfriend that you can marry and have _freak _children with."  
Lily pulled away from Petunia with a low growl. Petunia's hate for anything out of the ordinary was beyond reason.  
  
Typical Muggle stereotype – terrified of magic.  
  
Even so, Lily smiled sweetly and said in a deceptively pleasant voice:  
"Firstly, Petunia _dearest_, I am not a freak. I am a witch," Petunia blanched, "and so are my friends. We have magic, so what? It's not going to go away, so _deal_. Secondly, unless you want me to "accidentally" slip a potion or two into your friend's drinks next time I see them, I'd lighten up, because as I said before, this magic business is here to stay. Whether you like it or not. But, if you don't want to see things my way, I'm sure Fiona Southam would look lovely with elephant ears..."  
  
Petunia's jaw had dropped and her mouth was opening and closing like that of a goldfish. She appeared to be too horrified for words.  
  
Lily grinned wickedly and took this as her cue to (finally) leave. With her luggage trolley in tow, she began to walk briskly towards the Barrier.  
  
_Why does it have to look so goddamn solid?  
_She broke into a run.  
_Itsnotsoliditsnotsoliditsnotsoliditsnotsoliditsnotsoliditsnotsoliditsnotsolid...  
_She screwed her eyes shut as the wall drew near.  
  
Her parents and Petunia saw girl and wall merge into one -  
And then she was gone.  
  
Lily wandered down the train, Morganna at her heels, in search of her friends.  
She passed compartment after compartment, door after door, student after student – but to no avail. Her friends were no-where to be found.  
  
_They'd _have _to sit in the last compartment of the last carriage_, she thought darkly. _I got on at the front and they're at the back.  
Brilliant.  
  
_As Lily neared the tail of the train, she quickened her pace and pulled her wand from her pocket. This was Slytherin territory and she wasn't about to be caught unawares if one got it into their head to hex her.  
  
One could never be too careful around Slytherins.  
  
Even worse than the Slytherins (in Lily's opinion) were the Marauders, a group of Gryffindor boys, infamous for their pranks and complete disregard for the rules. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.  
They also chose to sit in the end compartments of the train.  
  
Remus and Peter were fairly inoffensive – the former had even made Prefect (and, truth be told, Lily hoped he was Head Boy too) and Peter was really just a tag-a-long. Cool by association.  
Even Black was _bearable_. That is, when he wasn't playing the clown, showing off or flirting with every female in the immediate vicinity...which was, as it happened, a lot of the time.  
  
But it was Potter she had a problem with.  
  
James Potter.  
Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, an excellent flyer, got top marks in all his classes and had good looks to boot (though he wasn't as easy on the eyes as Black - but who was?).  
Along with Black, Potter was one of the most popular boys at Hogwarts.  
And he was very much aware of it.  
  
Half of Hogwarts female population was in love with him, but to Lily he was nothing more than an arrogant, bullying exhibitionist.  
When he wasn't messing up his already untidy hair to give the impression he'd just got off his broom, or executing a famous Marauder's prank, he was harassing Severus Snape (a Slytherin in their year) because of 'the fact that he exists' as Potter had so charmingly put it when she had questioned him.  
  
_Insufferable git_, she thought.  
  
Lily's very low opinion of him wasn't improved by his habit of asking her out at every opportunity. Something he'd made a point of doing every day since mid-Fifth Year.  
To Lily's frustration, her rejections only seemed to make him more determined.  
  
_If he asks me out one more time, I swear I'll...  
  
_Lily was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice that she was fast approaching the object of them.

* * *

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were returning to their compartment after catching up with some fellow Gryffindor.  
Sirius' gaze floated up the corridor and he elbowed James hard in the ribs.  
  
"Prongs mate," he muttered, using the Marauder's nickname for James, "Look who it is..."  
  
James followed the direction of his friend's look to settle on the red haired girl - young woman, really - walking towards them. An unhappy expression marred her delicate features and she appeared to be deep in thought.  
  
James' insides squirmed involuntarily.

* * *

Lily continued walking, fists and jaw clenched. Just the _thought _of Potter and his _stupid _behaviour enraged her.  
  
She was struggling to draw her thoughts away from him and back to the problem at hand - the fact that she had no idea where her friends were - when she heard voices near by.  
  
She looked up from the floor and found herself staring into a familiar pair of hazel eyes, framed by wire rimmed glasses.  
  
She felt her own eyes widen.  
  
James Potter.

* * *


	2. A Definite Lapse of Judgement

**Disclaimer: We swear it's not ours!  
  
Key to Author's Notes:  
L/N A note from Lucy  
P/N A note from Penny  
A/N A note from both  
  
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update (What's it been? Three, four weeks...a million years...?), but it was the holidays.  
And seeing as how Penny and I write this story during Geo, it was a _little _difficult to collaborate...what with me being on one side of Sydney and her being on the other.  
But school has resumed (um...yay?) and we are back to ignoring out Geography teacher. No disrespect, Mrs H.  
  
So here it is, the long awaited (cough) _Second Chapter_.**  
  
**Chapter Two: A Definite Lapse in Judgement  
**  
  
"Hey, Evans," James said, before walking right past her.  
Sirius, Remus and Peter followed suit, each greeting her with a polite 'Hi'. Lily ignored the suggestive wink Sirius sent in her direction (apparently the fact that his best mate had been lusting after her since he was 14 made no difference to him) and continued the stare at the back of James' head, thoroughly mystified. The boys walked away without so much as a backward glance.  
  
Lily was completely pole-axed.  
James Potter being...civil?  
  
He hadn't asked her out. He hadn't bragged about his latest achievement. He hadn't pulled some attention seeking stunt. He hadn't even messed up his hair - a habit which intensified whenever she came near.  
  
No hexes, no curses, no stupid pranks...  
  
Nothing.  
  
Just "Hey, Evans".  
  
The world had gone mad.  
  
Lily was shaken from her reverie by a short scream, followed by a loud _thump _and a string of muddled up curses, hexes and profanities. Recognising the voice, Lily rushed to the nearest compartment, where the sound had cone from, fearing the worst...  
  
Only to find Georgiana Pommeroy, one of her two closest friends, lying flat on her back, scowling at ceiling. Textbooks, parchment and quills were scattered all over the place, along with smashed bottles of ink, owl feathers and various pieces of the Hogwarts uniform.

**P/N: Not much different from old Lucy, who can't get up without falling over**.  
  
Lily surveyed the mess before her, struggling not to laugh.  
"Dare I ask how you managed to wreak this much havoc before school has even officially started yet?" Lily asked the girl who still lay unmoving (save for blinking and breathing) on the floor.  
  
"It's all the bloody _owl's _fault," Georgiana grumbled, gesturing rudely at the luggage rack over head.  
  
Lily looked up and saw that it was not the ceiling that her large blue eyes were fixed on, but Georgiana's tawny brown owl, Ulula.  
The bird raised and lowered its wings in the owl equivalent of a shrug, regarding Lily with a solemn amber gaze.  
  
"She has it in for me, I swear!" Georgiana insisted.  
  
"Are you trying to tell me that your owl - who is conspiring against you - scattered your clothes, books, parchment and other school supplies all over the place...and then pushed you over?"  
  
"Fuck you, Lily"  
  
Lily laughed as Georgiana fought to look angry and failed miserably. The girl's heart shaped face broke into a broad smile. Lily pulled Georgiana up from the floor and the pair set about cleaning the compartment  
  
**(L/N: Methinks I have an obsession with the word 'compartment')**.  
  
Georgiana - or Ana as she preferred to be called - came from a rich, Pureblood wizarding family (unlike Lily, who had to endure the stigma - at least in the Pureblood fanatics view - of being Muggleborn) and was a fellow member of the Gryffindor House.  
Georgiana topped Lily's height of 5 foot 2 by three inches and had an athletic build - complete with sinewy, cat-like muscle and quick reflexes, attributed to playing Chaser on the House Quidditch Team. Her wavy hair was an unusual blend of blonde, brown, red and black strands (a colour Ana had dubbed "Confused") and was tied back its trademark ponytail; the only way Ana could get it to stay in place.  
Ana's dark blue eyes - wide and expressive - were set beneath slightly arched brows. She had ivory skin and a ruddy mouth. Georgian's nose had a small bump in the middle showing it had been broken.  
  
"Where's Chloe?" Lily asked, referring to their other friend, Chloe Nurullah.  
  
"God only knows."  
  
"Helpful."  
  
"Anytime."  
  
Lily was used to Ana's vague replies - Chloe would turn up eventually.  
  
"You didn't reply to my last letter," Lily said, shuffling parchment into a neat pile.  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that..." The girl made a face as she folded her robes and thrust them back into her bags. "Max was being difficult."  
  
Max - Maxim - was Ana's twin brother.  
  
"I'll reply now if you want, "Ana grinned. "Dear Lily, I'm bored out of my skull and Max is a stupid git. He stole my wand and owled it to my cousin, Artemis, in Australia, who didn't send it back until yesterday..."  
  
Lily smiled. "It's okay, Ana. I wasn't _serious_...I was just saying. It's not as if anything exciting happened to me. Petunia was being her usual, lovely and supportive self-"Ana sniggered. "-I got my books, studied a bit, was appointed Head Girl..."  
Lily trailed off as Ana's eyes came close to bulging out of their sockets.  
  
"Yes, Ana, I get it. You have _big eyes_."  
  
"Oh, my God," Ana whispered, staring at Lily. "Oh my God! I cannot believe this. Wait until you see who's...oh, God, it'll be good."  
  
Ana looked ready to jump around the compartment in glee, as Lily watched her, bewildered.  
"Well, you would have made it a lot harder for me if you'd just up and _told _me what you were on about." Lily paused for a moment, comprehension dawning on her features. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...you know who Head Boy is?"  
  
Unable to speak - she was laughing so hard - Ana nodded vigorously. In true Ana style, tears were running down her face; the girl couldn't get past something funny without crying in mirth.  
This situation seemed to be no different.  
  
Lily folded her arms in front of her. "Well, are you going to tell me?" she asked mildly.  
Ana shook her head, still shaking with laughter. "Fine. Be that way. I'll guess."  
"You'll never guess," Ana wheezed. "Seriously - never."  
  
"We'll see about that, Pommeroy," Lily retorted, throwing herself into one of the Express' comfy seats. Ana managed to stop giggling long enough to get herself seated across from Lily. "Now, let's see...is it...Remus Lupin?"  
Ana's smile faltered.  
"No," she said quickly, a blush rising in her cheeks. Lily smiled to herself - her friend was terrible at hiding her crush on the most sensible Marauder. Though, somehow, Remus himself remained oblivious.  
  
"Dammit. Michael Debevec?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Ely Riggio?"  
  
"God, no."  
  
Lily tugged at her bottom lip.  
"Keats Delaplace?"  
  
"Nuh-uh."  
  
"Your brother?"  
  
"Unless Dumbledore has gone insane - no, definitely not." Ana grinned wickedly at her, blue eyes dancing. "You'll never get it..." she said in a sing song voice.  
  
"Shut it," Lily snarled, growing impatient. "Peter Pettigrew?"  
  
"What, are you kidding me?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah. It was just a guess...Malcolm Dow?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"That Ravenclaw guy, the one with the bad - "  
  
"_No_."  
  
"Closer to home?"  
Ana nodded, her smile still firmly in place.  
"Lily thought for a moment. "Sirius Black?"  
  
"Close, my friend...but no."  
  
Lily frowned. "But that only leaves..." She gasped. "No, it isn't - he wouldn't is it ..." Lily gulped. "It couldn't be...Potter?"  
  
_Please, _please _no. Please don't let it be Potter..._please_...  
  
_Lily's stomach sank and her throat tightened when Ana's evil smile broadened.  
"Takes the cake, Lily."  
  
Lily felt like she was going to scream.  
_James Potter was Head Boy?  
  
But-he-that is to say-not suitable-she...but _Potter? _Ridiculous-unbelievable-not even a lick of sense-pranks-Marauders-bad behaviour-not even a Prefect-it-she-they-was..._had Dumbledore lost his mind?!  
_James Potter was Head Boy? _The _James Potter?  
  
_The same James Potter who was on detention every other day?  
The same James Potter that, along with his fellow Marauders, had turned the hair of the entire Hogwarts teaching staff green in Fifth Year?  
The same James Potter that hexed people because he _felt like it_?  
The boy who strutted around as if he owned the school?  
_That _James Potter?  
  
_WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD APPOINT _THAT_ AS HEAD BOY?!  
  
_Lily's mind was reeling. She had thought James Potter treating her like a normal person - instead of potential date/shagging material - was confusing, and now she was hit with this. This alone was enough to convince her that her initial thoughts were correct - the world had indeed gone mad.  
Completely and utterly mad.  
No doubt about it.  
  
Lily groaned and rubbed her temples. She could feel a headache coming on.  
"Potter?" she squeaked, her voice hoarse. "James Potter?"  
  
Ana leant over and gently patted her on the head. "Yes, Lily. James Potter," she said, as if addressing a small and not particularly bright child. "You know...male, around six foot three, Quidditch pro, untidy black hair, glasses, your mortal enemy and not-so-secret admirer of the last three years...ring any bells?"  
  
Lily hit Ana lightly on the arm. "Please tell me you're kidding, "she begged. "Please tell me this is a really, really poor joke."  
  
"It pains me to say so, Lily, but this is no joke." Ana sighed, looking at Lily in what could have been described as sympathy...had it not been for the smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. "James is your prestigious partner in Head Student-ship."  
  
Lily wanted nothing more than to hit her head slowly against the window.  
  
_And to think I thought this year would be fun_, Lily thought darkly.  
  
**(L/N: There was too much thinking in that sentence if you ask me...)  
  
**"Aw, come on, Lily," Ana said, slinging an arm around her shoulder, "he's not _that _bad..."  
"Yeah, says you."  
  
"Exactly - and we both know that I'm always right. So you've got nothing to worry about."  
  
"Whatever..."  
  
"Chloe'll die when I tell her about this."  
  
"Fuck off, Georgiana..."

* * *

When the Marauders were safely back in their own compartment, and the four were seated, Sirius, Remus and Peter all looked at James expectantly.  
Waiting for him say something.  
  
After three years of him being smitten with Lily Evans, James' friends were more than ready for the rants that usually followed an encounter with the fiery redhead.  
  
_"Did you see how nice her skin is? How soft does her hair look...don't you love her eyes? God, does he look hot or what...she didn't say hello, though. I guess she still hates me...but what is _up _with that, anyway? I mean, it's not like I've ever done anything to _her _- just Snivellus. And he deserves it, greasy git that he is...but who cares? She's beautiful, she's fantastic, she's _perfect_..."  
  
_And so it continued until someone had the sense to put a Silencing Charm on him.  
  
That had been the way since Fourth Year, when James had realised that Lily was a girl - and an attractive on at that.  
Not just the know-it-all teachers pet.  
  
Today strayed from that expected order of events, though.  
  
There were no confessions of undying love, no stupid grins at the sight of her, and no soppy love poems dedicated to her left eyebrow.  
The only sound was the steady chant of the train's wheels against the ground and Peter's loud breathing.  
  
Sirius and Remus exchanged puzzled glances.  
Something was very wrong here.  
  
Sensing their eyes on him, James asked, without looking up from his Transfiguration textbook:  
  
"Is there a reason why you're all staring at me?"  
  
Just as Sirius and Remus were denying that they had been looking at him ("_It's not you...it's that...thing...on the wall...just beside tour head...don't _look!"), Peter nodded animatedly, watery eyes wide, and gave a squeaky "Yes!"  
  
Remus rolled his eyes at the boy's lack of tact and sense, while Sirius chose to thump him hard on the arm. When his yelps of pain had subsided, James raised an eyebrow at the three in question.  
  
"Moony?" he asked.  
  
Sirius and Remus exchanged glances once again.  
  
"Well, Prongs," Remus began,"The thing is, whenever we meet with the lovely Miss Evans..."  
  
"Right babe she is, too," interrupted Sirius. Remus glowered at him, before continuing.  
  
"You tend to-"  
  
"Go all googly eyed and act like a lovesick git," Sirius interjected again, "and rave on about how pretty her _ears_, or whatever, looked today for _half an hour_."  
Peter nodded in agreement.  
  
"That's one way of putting it," Remus remarked dryly, "But it's come to our attention that after today's run in, in which she didn't even-"  
  
"Tell you where to get off like she usually does."  
  
"-you haven't said-"  
  
"Jackshit."  
  
The three boys watched James intently, waiting for his reaction.  
James shrugged broad shoulders, laying his book aside.  
"So?" he asked.  
  
"So?!" Sirius shouted. "What do you mean 'so'?! This is Evans, Prongs - last I heard of it, you were obsessed with her."  
  
Ah, Padfoot," James said, "that's where you're wrong."  
  
Remus, Sirius and Peter all wore the same disbelieving expression.  
  
"Are you quite all right there, mate..." Remus asked warily.  
  
"I'm serious. I am totally over Lily Evans."  
His friends' faces remained unchanged.  
  
"I mean it!" he insisted. "Why lust after a girl that hates me? And besides-"He smirked, "-I have a girlfriend."  
  
Remus still looked sceptical. "Who?"  
  
"Chloe Nurullah."  
  
"Chloe Nurullah?" Peter asked, forehead furrowed in thought. "Isn't she that bird with a really excellent rack - OW!"  
He rubbed his arm where Sirius had hit it - again - whimpering.  
  
James ignored Peter and turned to Remus who had just asked, "When did this happen?"  
  
James shrugged again. "We got together over the summer..."  
  
"And why did _I _not know of this?" Sirius demanded looking scandalized.  
  
"We went out when you were off making arrangements for your flat, Padfoot."  
  
"What? And I didn't come back all summer? You could have _told _me, Prongs. I do _live _with you and your family. It's not as though you never saw me."  
  
James adjusted his glasses.  
"What's your point?"  
  
Sirius sighed impatiently. "The point _is_ you didn't tell me. What kind of friend doesn't tell his best mate when he gets a girlfriend? Answer me that, Jimmy."  
  
"A friend that likes his privacy - and don't call me Jimmy."  
  
"I'll call you whatever I like, Francesca. You're _supposed _to tell me these things. Otherwise we can't do all that male bonding crap, like comparing shags and tits and stuff..."  
  
"We haven't shagged yet, Padfoot, "James said hotly. "We've been dating for less than a month."  
  
"What's your point?" Sirius asked.  
  
James blinked at him, his jaw clenched.  
  
"Just because you shag everything in a short skirt within two seconds of catching sight of it, Padfoot, doesn't mean we all do," Remus said loudly. He gave James a meaningful look. "Isn't that right, Prongs?"  
  
"Exactly," James replied without taking his eyes off Sirius.  
  
Sirius gave a bark of laughter. "Just because _you _can't even tell Georgiana Pommeroy that you like her, let alone get her to shag you, doesn't mean we're all like that, Moony," Sirius said mockingly. Remus' pale face to on a pink tinge. Sirius fixed his piercing grey gaze on Peter. "What d'you think, Wormtail?"  
  
Peter bit his lip, not knowing whose side to take. Either way, he was going to piss one of them off with his response.  
"Um..." he mused.  
  
Sirius brushed him off, annoyed.  
"Never minds, Wormy. Bloody hopeless..."  
  
Peter clamped his mouth shut.  
  
"I'm going," James said, standing up abruptly. "I have to go to the Prefect meeting. I'll see you guys later."  
  
He pulled open the compartment door and walked out, running a large hand through his already messy hair.  
  
"Touchy," Sirius muttered when he was out of earshot. He immediately turned to Remus and Peter.  
"Now that Prongs has given up on Evans...so you think I could shag her?"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Lily and Ana were reclining on their seats eating Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, purchased from the food trolley. Their compartment showed no sign of the mess it had been earlier, thanks to some well aimed cleaning spells.  
  
"I mean, _jeez_, Lily," Ana said, exasperated. "Just look at him. Messy hair and his sexy grin and those eyes, and I swear to God when he moves during Quidditch I can see the muscles in his back rippling under his shirt, and - "  
  
Not giving Ana a chance to continue, knowing that once she got started she'd never stop, Lily reached into her book-bag and pulled out a tissue.  
Without a word she held it out to Ana.  
Ana looked from Lily, to the tissue and back again.  
  
"What the hell is that for?"  
  
"You were beginning to drool," she told the other girl, straight-faced.  
  
Ana cast Lily a dark look. "Ha-freaking-ha, Lily," she muttered, batting the hand holding the tissue aside. "I don't know why you're wasting your time with this whole witch thing when you could be such a successful comedian."  
  
"This isn't helping me with the whole Potter-is-Head-Boy-Oh-God-Somebody-Kill-Me-Thing."  
  
"Right, right..."  
  
They sat in silence - both girls deep in thought.  
  
"But seriously," Ana began after a few minutes," if you'd just look past the stupid, immature, irresponsible, egotistical, pranking crap, I'm sure you'd see that James is really a sensitive, down-to-earth guy having trouble expressing himself."  
  
"Or, alternatively, he really is just a stupid, immature, irresponsible, egotistical, pranking prat with a bad attitude and complete disregard for the rules," Lily said, voice falsely cheerful.  
  
"That too...""He's a complete pain in the arse, and you know it, Ana," Lily said matter-of-factly.  
  
Ana grinned and jumped at the opportunity. "Speaking of arses..."  
  
Lily groaned out loud. _Here we go_, she thought.  
  
"...did you get a look at James'? My God, it is just so - "  
  
"Okay, Ana, too much information..._way _too much information..."  
  
"-perfectly shaped - "  
  
"Enough! Just stop right now, or I'll - "  
  
"-I could just..."  
  
"_Silencio!_"  
  
Lily had pulled her wand from the pocket of her robes.  
Ana didn't get the chance to tell Lily what she could just do to James Potter, as the spell had temporarily muted her.  
The taller girl was gesturing wildly at her and mouthing words that Lily couldn't hear.  
  
_Just as well_, Lily thought, _because if she's commending me on my spell work, I'll eat my hat...  
  
_"Get. Rid. Of. The. Spell," Ana told Lily slowly and silently. "NOW."  
  
"Only if you behave," Lily replied in a stern tone, not unlike that of their Transfiguration Professor, Minerva McGonagall.  
  
Ana slumped back in her seat, nodding resignedly.  
  
"_Finite Incantantem_."  
  
Ana cleared her throat and glared at Lily.  
"What's he ever done to you, anyway?"  
  
Lily gave her an incredulous look.  
_What has he-what has he ever-what has he ever done to me?!  
  
_"Well," she began, imitating the famous Potter smirk, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean..."  
  
Ha, ha. Very funny. You should take what I said earlier into account, you know, about the comedian thing. But seriously, what has he ever done to you?" Ana crossed her arms and leant backwards. 

Lily waved her arms around in exasperation. "You _know _what he's done to me. You've been there for most of it. He's always hexing people and treating them like they don't matter and humiliating them - "  
  
Ana cut her short. "No, Lily. I asked you to tell me what he's ever done to _you_ - _you­ _being Lily Margaret Evans, in case you've forgotten - not Severus Snape - who is NOT you for a number of reasons."  
  
"Oh." Lily bit her bottom lip. "Well, he always..."  
  
"He always...?"  
  
"Um..."  
  
"Yes?" Ana was smirking at her now.  
  
"He always asks me out!" Lily snapped, unable to think of anything else.  
  
Ana clapped a hand over her mouth in mock horror.  
"He asked you out? The nerve of that boy." She shook her head. "Bastard," she muttered.  
  
Lily suppressed the urge to hit her.  
  
Ana raised an eyebrow. "So the guy asks you out. Is that all you've got?"  
  
"He only does it because he knows it annoys me," Lily said defensively.  
  
"Maybe he does it because he likes you."  
  
Lily didn't reply.  
Not at all liking where this conversation was going, she quickly changed the subject.  
"I hope Potter takes this position seriously."  
  
Ana's smirk turned into a wicked grin. Seemingly satisfies with knowing she'd hit a nerve, she said nothing, opting to pull out a thick textbook rather than reply.  
  
For the next twenty minutes the pair sat in a comfortable silence. Ana, who was more comfortable reading, had her nose buried in her Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook. Ulula sat perched on Ana's shoulder, large eyes unblinking as it stared at the pages. Every so often Ana would murmur the incantation for a spell but otherwise she said nothing.  
  
Lily stared out the window, watching as the English countryside passed by. She absentmindedly stroked the top of Morganna's head and she sank deep into thought.  
  
She was glad to be returning to Hogwarts.  
Beyond glad - she was ecstatic.  
Granted, she missed her parents and the familiarity of her own room and belongings...but one summer was more than she could bear to spend around Petunia.  
  
The only thing her sister had been able to talk about for the past month and a bit was the man she had met at the "World's Prissiest People Convention" or whatever.  
It was always "Vernon _this_" and "Vernon _that_" and "Sorry, but _Vernon and I _think that..."  
  
Quite frankly, Lily had heard enough about Vernon Dursley to last her a last time and prayed (as unlikely as it was to happen) that both Vernon and Petunia would disappear off the face of the Earth.  
  
"He's quite well to do," Petunia had informed Lily. "He's _making _something of himself. Not like all those blokes from _your lot_. Running around being _Auroras _and _Winditch _players and what not. Vernon's going to do something that will help him in the real world - not in your stupid little fantasy realm, with the pixie dust and the unicorns..."  
  
Petunia had no clue. "Auroras" and "Winditch", for heaven's sake...  
  
In the last couple of weeks of the holiday, Lily had taken to muttering nonsense words under her breath ("horrid M-A-G-I-C-A-L curses!" Petunia would shriek) to ward the older girl off before she could get started.  
  
As her final year at Hogwarts and the year she came of age in the wizarding world, Lily smiled at the thought that at the end of it, she would finally be able to escape Petunia for good and start her own life.  
She was going to make her 7th Year at Hogwarts her best ever.  
  
Although...this business with Potter being Head Boy concerned her. Hadn't Dumbledore taken his past behaviour into account? He was a prankster and troublemaker - not Head Boy material.  
Sure, Potter got good grades, but he was just so...irresponsible.  
You couldn't judge someone's character on a bunch of test scores.  
  
Lily sighed loudly, her warm breath fogging up the window glass.  
  
_People don't make sense...  
  
_As if sensing her mistress' unrest, Morganna yowled loudly and adjusted her position in Lily's lap.  
  
_I wish I was a cat_, Lily thought. _Cats don't have to put up with arrogant seventeen year old boys and lapses in the Headmaster's judgement...  
_Her mind drifted and she stared into space.  
  
"Lily?" Ana's voice roused her from her daydreams.  
  
"Mmm?"  
  
"You're Head Girl, right?"  
  
Lily's head snapped around to face Ana, who was looking at her wristwatch.  
"Yes...I thought we'd already established this..."  
  
"Well, we have, but I was just thinking..."  
  
"What?"  
  
Ana met Lily's green eyes with her own blue ones. They were sparkling with amusement.  
  
"Aren't you meant to be a conducting a Prefect meeting right now?"  
  
**L/N: Has anyone noticed my obsession with eyes? I hadn't realised that I had such a preoccupation with them...  
  
P/N: **(say something here, pen) **  
  
A/N: Well, there's Chapter 2 done...it was a bit longer than originally planned...but whatever.  
It's finished.  
That's what really matters.  
It might take a while for Chapter 3 to be put up, because we have our Yearlies this week and the studying involved in that is somewhat time consuming.  
Wish us luck...  
  
Lucy O'M & Penny D.**


End file.
